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Wrecker observes the solemn air that's taken hold aboard the Marauder. Hunter wordlessly pilots them back to the top of the island. Crosshair has his arms crossed with a toothpick tight between his teeth and a shadow over his face. Omega was up in the gunners mount, her back to all of them, with the curtains drawn shut. Even with Batcher waiting at the foot of the ladder, whining for Omega to come down. Usually Omega was by the hound’s side the second she made a sound, but even she was too consumed in her own thoughts to pay attention to Batcher and the affection she was after.
Frowning Wrecker makes his way over to the needy Lurka Hound, sitting on the floor in front of Omega’s “room”. He didn’t trust the ex Seppie the second she showed up. He’s not sure what she said to the kid when they were alone, or to Hunter and Crosshair before finally leaving. But it has left everyone in a mood, and he can’t shake the uneasy feeling of her haunting presence.
“Com’ere, girl.” Wrecker reaches out and scratches Batcher’s back, she’s happy to return the favor by licking his face.
Hunter brings the ship down to dock in front of the Archem. The floral branches of the Weeping Maya tree bend in the wake of them touching down in the old courtyard. But still, no one breaks the silence. Crosshair is the first to make a move, taking his rifle and leaving like he always did when something was on his mind. Even before he had nerve damage in his hands that he’s been trying to retrain, he’d always preferred shooting first than talking over anything.
Hunter emerges from the cockpit motioning to Omega’s closed off room. Wrecker shakes his head, understanding the wordless question. No, she hasn’t said anything or come out yet.
“Omega?” Hunter calls for her gently. “You want to grab lunch?”
They wait for her response, tension still hanging in the air.
“I’m not hungry.” She finally answers. “I’m pretty tired, I think I’m just going to rest for a bit.”
Something was definitely wrong, she never wanted to rest during the day in all their years together. Even when she was much smaller and younger, practically falling asleep standing, she’d fight them on the matter. Insisting she wasn’t tired, then in less than ten minutes she’d be asleep in some funny position around the ship. One of them usually had to carry her back to her bed.
Wrecker and Hunter wear matching frowns. Knowing by the tightness in her tone she was lying. They always try to give her her space, their living arrangements never offering much of it. Since her escaping Tantiss they’ve rarely left her completely alone, becoming even more overprotective shadows than they already were.
“Okay, kid. Get some rest.” Hunter’s voice remains gentle but unmistakably concerned. Glancing at Wrecker with a nod, knowing he’ll keep an eye on things here, Hunter gathers Tech’s old data pad and returns to the front of the ship.
Batcher whines, resting her head on Wrecker’s thigh, looking up at him with big pink puppy eyes. Wrecker pets her head, understanding just how she was feeling. He didn’t like this either. More and more he’s been finding Omega more distant these past few days, not that he can blame her. She’s gone through so much, and the weight of being the Empire’s most wanted weighed heavily on all of them.
She’d skip meals, making excuses to be by herself, or busy herself with whatever needed to be done around the ship. She’s even distanced herself from Lyana, Wrecker hasn’t seen the two together in several rotations.
He knows his Omega, and she’s not as okay as she’s claiming to be. It’s time for him to get involved.
Wrecker stiffly stands, still sore from the fight with Ventress. He’ll admit that they were definitely outmatched, but never will he say it outloud. The cut by his eye still stinging from where she all but clawed him. “No cheating my ass” he bitterly thinks to himself as his knees pop in protest of standing up, forget the state of his back, he’s going to need to ice again later. He heads to exit the ship, Batcher staying behind, still waiting for Omega.
“Where are you going?” Hunter turns to face him, looking up from the datapad.
“I got a favor to call in.” Wrecker grins, motioning with his head to the back where Omega remind.
Hunter’s worry strung features melt just enough for a small smile to crack through as Wrecker bounds down the steps. He’s not sure what his brother has planned, but if it makes Omega smile that's enough for him.
**
“Hey, Wrecker!”
He’s greeted instantly upon arrival to what quickly became one of his favorite spots on all of Pabu. Ronny’s Bar and Grill was famous amongst the locals for the authentic food, and creative bar menu. During the weeks of rebuilding after the tsunami Wrecker got to know just about everyone in the community. Ronny was a good friend, and an even better chef.
“Hey’a Mackz!” Wrecker cheerily greets his friend. “Catch anything good?”
“You wouldn’t believe the haul that I brought in today! Something big must've spooked all the fish right back to the shallows.” She pulls out a cold bottle of beer, sliding the frosty glass down to him.
“Oh, I believe it.” Wrecker accepts the drink from her. “We fought it.” He clips the beer cap off on the edge of his leg armor.
Mackz lets out a low whistle. “I wouldn’t want to tango with the beasts in these waters.” She shakes her head amusingly. “You boys know how to attract all the fun.”
“We sure do.” He chuckles heartily, clinking his bottle to hers.
“I saw Omega with someone new down at the docks this morning, who was she?” Mackz, like most of their friends on Pabu, always keeps an eye out for Omega. Especially since her recent return.
“Unexpected visitor.” Wrecker points to the clawlike scratch over his eye, Mackz hissed in sympathetic pain. “She’s gone now. I wouldn’t worry about her showing up again.” He takes another long sip of his drink.
Mackz reaches for another one behind the bar. “Think you’ll need more than just one, Big Guy.” She gives him a kind smile.
“Now y’a talking!” He grins accepting her offer. “Is Ronny around?”
“In the back, he’s working on tonight's mystery menu.” She nods to the back kitchen doors. “Y’a got a special request?”
“That I do, it’s a surprise for Omega.” He finishes his first beer, opening the second the same way before making his way to the swinging back doors.
Like most of the infrastructure on lower Pabu, Ronny’s place was pretty much whipped out. The only thing remaining intact was surprisingly the bar, everything else had to be rebuilt. Tech re engineered all the appliances for the kitchen in a single afternoon, he remembers helping him carry the heavy equipment in as if it was yesterday. The memory of his brother was everywhere on this island, everyone he helped, everything he rebuilt or fixed. Wrecker can’t blame Phee for not coming back around since that dark day they returned broken in so many ways, without him, and without Omega.
Everyday he thinks of him, how Tech would've had the answers to the mystery behind Omega’s connection to M-count experimentations. How he would've known what to do while they were searching for her for months because he just always knew everything. He misses his quips, his loud snoring in the middle of the night, the way he would talk on for hours about things Wrecker could never fully understand. Hell, he even misses his weird collection of animal sounds he’d record.
It’s great to finally have Crosshair home, but there’ll forever be a gap where Tech used to be. He almost forgets in moments that it feels like old times, until he looks over his shoulder to see the all too empty space left.
Wrecker spots Ronny in the back of the kitchen. The pale Twilak was whistling to himself as he stood watch over the simmering pots he had going on the burners.
“Smells good in here!” Wrecker announces himself. The other man turns around, smiling wide.
“Ayy, Wrecka!” He greets him in his thick Ryloth accent. “What brings you by, my friend!” Ronny clasps his hand around Wrecker’s pulling him into an affectionate half hug.
“I was wondering if you could help me make Omega’s favorite. Kid’s been a bit down lately.”
“Of course I can! Anything for our little Mega.” Ronny turns the stove tops down to a simmer, making space on the counter cutting block. “What’s it she likes?”
Wrecker’s grin is contagious. “Have ya ever had Mantel Mix?”
**
Omega wasn’t able to rest, not that she was really trying too. Folded in on herself in the gunners chair she held Lula tight to her chest, resting her head on the soft plush. She watches out the window, following the clouds in the sky, noticing the birds returning to the trees. It’s been hazy out the last two days, Hunter says a storm is rolling in from the south. Tropical systems are common this time of year on Pabu, but the constant gray atmosphere hangs low and heavy, much like Omega’s mood right now.
She wasn't sure what she was more disappointed about. Ventress’s tests, or herself. None of it made any sense to her. If she didn’t have a high Midiclorian count or connection to the force, then why was the Empire targeting her? She feels like they are even further away from figuring it out, and she’s afraid they are running out of time to do so.
She’s been frustrated and anxious the last few days. Still waiting for Echo to call like he promised he would. She feels so bad that she’s the reason for so much trouble, and it feels like there’s nothing she can do to help.
Most of Rex’s men are dead because of her, Hunter and Wrecker had to make a deal with a dangerous bounty hunter because of her, and they have to lay low, because of her.
Ventress told her that she was holding herself back, that she was already content with where she is with her brothers. Omega doesn’t understand, what is so wrong with that? She just got home, she just found them again, they were finally all back together, well almost all together.
Ventress also said if she did have higher M-count, she’d have to be trained in order to access the force, and that's something her brothers could never show her how to do.
At first Omega was excited by the possibility of maybe being able to wield the force like her friend Gungi can, but not if it means having to leave her family. Maybe Ventress was right, the truth isn’t always comforting. Omega squeezes Lula tighter to her, she still doesn't know what she is, and she’s endangering all of them because of it.
Batcher can be heard from the base of the gunners pit, still whining and grunting every few minutes that pass and Omega doesn’t tend to her. Her nails scratching against the metal walls were starting to become too much, screeching repetitively and definitely leaving marks on the wall. She hears Hunter firmly ordering the hound to stop, but Batcher doesn’t take orders too well from anyone aside from Omega and occasionally Crosshair. She's easily aggravated when she feels threatened.
“Batcher! Down!” Hunter commands again, his voice even gruffer and deeper than it already is. Batcher’s protective instincts take over and she lets out a low threatening growl.
Omega instantly jumps out of her seat, dropping Lula in the process. She rushes to pull back the curtain in enough time to see Batcher bearing her sharp teeth, hunched down and stalking Hunter who sat at the Navicomputer. He remains calm, knowing that Batcher wouldn’t actually strike him, and if she did, Omega knew she’d never try again.
“Batcher, back girl!” Omega quickly climbs down the ladder rung. “No biting, put those teeth away!” She scolds the hound. Batcher however doesn’t take to the scolding, too excited to see Omega finally out to where she can see her again. She bounds over to her licking her face, almost knocking Omega. Batcher is domesticated, sure, but she’s also bigger than Omega and twice her weight.
“Think she’s a bit protective over you.” Hunter smirks. “She’s been sitting there for some time.”
Omega holds Batcher’s wide blue face with both her hands, petting her to let her know she’s ok. “Sorry Hunter, she still doesn’t take orders very well.”
He chuckles at that, “then she fits right in with the rest of us.”
Omega smiles softly, giving her lurkahound a hug around her thick strong neck. “Yeah she does.”
“Did you rest?” Hunter turns back to the screens before him, closing several charts he had up.
“Not exactly.” Omega confesses moving closer to read over his shoulder. He was studying chartmaps of systems she’s never heard of before, but one planet name stuck out to her. “Idaflor?”
Hunter sighs, not turning to face her right away. She has a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach remembering the first time that planet was brought up. He was thinking of having them leave Pabu.
“Why are you looking at Idaflor? I thought it wasn’t inhabited.” She already knows the answer, and she didn’t like it.
“Omega, I don’t know how safe it is here anymore. If Ventress was able to track us down, soon others might too.” He’s calm and reasonable like he always is, but Omega doesn’t want to listen to reason. She doesn’t want any more big changes.
“No, we can’t just leave Pabu! You said we could stay, you promised!” Omega instantly regrets reacting the way she did, watching the light dim in Hunter’s eyes.
He had promised her they could live on Pabu permanently. He made that promise after Tech used plan 99. He died so they could have that chance to start over, Hunter said they wouldn’t let his sacrifice go to waste. If she wanted, they would stop being soldiers, and start a new life… but then the Empire took her away from that promise, from her family. She held on to hope that she’d get back to it. Imagining being all together again in the comfort of the beautiful island every night to help herself fall asleep.
She didn’t want to leave it behind, not now at least, they just got here. This was the closest place they’ve had to a home other than the Marauder.
“Hunter, I’m. I’m sorry.” Omega takes the seat next to him, eyes casting down at her boots. She didn’t mean to hurt him, she knows he’s just looking out for her.
“I don’t want to leave either.” He says softly, placing his hand on her shoulder. Getting her to look at him. “But it’s too risky to stay now.”
“It’s always going to be risky, Hunter. Wherever we go it’s going to be risky because of me!” She looks at him pleadingly. “I’m a target. We won’t ever get a normal life because of me!”
Hunter’s face falls stoic, he sinks to his knees in front of her chair to be at eye level with her. “You don’t have to worry about that, Omega. We will protect you.”
She knows he means it, she knows they will fight till their last breath for her, and that’s what she’s afraid of.
“But I am worried, Hunter.” She pulls her knees up to her chest. “All my life I’ve been hidden and protected. My whole existence has been Nala Se’s secret project. Now that secret is out and we don’t even know what it means.” Omega looks at the screen before her, Idaflor staring her down. “I’m tired of hiding.” She says softly, tightening her hold on her legs. “It’s not going to change anything.”
Hunter gently brushes her bangs out of her eyes. “I’m so sorry Omega, for everything.” His own voice dipping with tight emotion. He’s always been so strong in front of her. He’s her safety, her support. She’s only ever seen his mask crumble once before, when he told her Tech was gone… “I wanted such a different life for you. I wanted so much better for you. None of this is fair, I know. But none of it is your fault, please don’t blame yourself for my mistakes.”
Omega reaches her hand out, holding his tattooed cheek against her palm, searching his face with concern. “None of this is your fault either, Hunter.”
She frowns, noticing the little ways he’s changed while she was gone. The new scars and lines on his face, the tiredness under his eyes that never seem to really go away, and the darkness lying just beneath the surface. He looks darker to her all around, his red clone force 99 bandana gone, she still distantly wonders where it is or if he lost it. She can only imagine the dangerous things he and Wrecker had gone through and done while searching for her. They crossed the Galaxy 5 times for her, and she knows he’d have done it a hundred times more for her, fighting whoever he needed to in order to get back to her.
Omega takes in an unsteady breath. “You can’t fight them all.”
“But I will try anyway.” He leans his forehead to hers. “That’s what family does.”
Omega feels the emotions she’s fought to control finally come to surface. She closes her eyes, tears slipping onto her cheeks. Her chest tight with the sobs she’s still fighting to hold in. “I know you will, Hunta, and that’s what worries me. I can’t lose you, not again.”
“Omega,” his own resolve softens to be the source of comfort she needs right now. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.” Hunter lifts her into his arms, holding her close like he did often when she was younger, she’s a bit bigger now but still easy for him to carry. Omega instinctively wraps her arms around his neck, hiding her face into his shoulder as she finally lets herself cry again for the first time since their reunion. He sits back in the chair he occupied earlier, with her now on his lap, holding her to his chest. “I’ve got you.” He repeats, whispering softly into her hair. “I’m here.”
Omega holds onto him tighter, all those months of isolation and darkness she thought she put behind her suddenly felt all too close again. “I missed you so much, Hunter.” She whispers shakily. “I missed our family. I don’t want to leave.”
He holds her even closer, his chin resting atop her head. “You don’t have to go anywhere.” His voice rumbles from his chest in the way that was always soothing to her. “If this is where you want to be, then this is where we will stay.”
She pulls away enough to look up at him. “We don’t have to leave Pabu?”
“It’s up to you to decide. It’s your life Omega, you deserve a say.” He gently wipes the tears from her face. “Whatever you decide, we will do.”
She wants them to stay, more than anything. But she understands his concerns. If Ventress found them, so could another bounty hunter, or worse the Empire, and that would put everyone in harm's way. Would it be selfish if she chose for them to stay?
“I, I don’t know what is the right choice.” She admits.
Hunter sighs, eyes looking at her with nothing but tenderness and understanding. “I don’t know either… we can figure it out together.”
Omega wraps her arms around him once again. She has a new understanding for Hunter’s role, and just how hard it is to make these sort of decisions that doesn’t just affect them, but everyone else around them. There was no easy answer. His hand rubs comforting circles over her back. She takes the next minute to remember his presence, what it feels like to be safe in his arms, the way his hair always smells a bit like the outdoors, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, the way his voice rumbles low in his chest as he hums comforting words to her. Everything she longed for on the days she was so alone and scared and so far, far away from him.
“You know, I never wanted to know why you were created.” He says softly, tilting his head to look at her. “I just wanted you to get to be a kid. To grow up to be anything you wanted to be, not something forced upon you.”
Omega sniffs from her hiding place on his shoulder, shielded by his long dark curls. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to be right now, she’s more worried about what she was. Why was her blood so special to whatever the Empire’s experiments are.
“I don’t know what I’m meant to be.” She mumbles from behind his hair.
“That’s ok, right now you are meant to still be a kid.” He pulls her up from his shoulder so he can meet her eyes, gently holding her face in his hands. “Just don’t grow up too fast on me, okay.” He smiles at her, but it's still heavy with a sadness Omega doesn’t remember him carrying before.
Omega doesn’t want to think about growing up, she knows in comparison to them she has unaltered aging. But even so, everything was changing so fast, and so was she. Before Tantiss, before Tech, she never thought about what her growing up would be like, she misses the days where it felt like they had all the time in the galaxy together. But now the days are feeling numbered, uncertain how long their reunion will really last.
She understands why Hunter always stresses the fact that she’s still a kid. After everything that has happened, everything she has seen, she gets why he was so protective of her childhood. She’s not even twelve yet, but that doesn’t matter to the Empire.
“Thank you for always protecting me, Hunter.”
Omega wants him to know she's grateful for all he’s done for her. She knows not a day has been easy for them, but he has never once complained. Always just pivoting to figure out their next move, to insure her well being in a galaxy that doesn’t guarantee anything. He blames himself for her capture, but she’s never thought of it that way. Like he said, this is an unfair fight they’re up against. She knew he’d be out there looking for her, and she was able to find him.
“I’m always going to be here for you, ad’ika.” He calls her by the nickname in Mando’a, meant just for her. She knows he means it with everything he is. She hugs him tightly once more, wanting to remember this moment for a long time to come.
Batcher has decided that their time of cuddles without her has gone on long enough. She pushes her way between them, one of her massive paws coming to rest on Hunter’s chest as she nuzzles into Omega.
Omega giggles at the Lurkahound’s antics and Hunter can’t help but to laugh too. Batcher might be the newest addition to their family, but she has made it feel like a home again after all they lost. Hunter let’s Omega slide off his lap, Batcher practically taking her by the sleeve.
“Alright girl, she’s all yours.” Hunter gives Batcher an affectionate scratch on the back of her neck, she licks his hand in return before herding Omega away.
“I think she’s hungry.” Omega giggles as Batcher sniffs her pockets.
Hunter’s comm blinks on Wrecker’s channel. “Hunter, I’ma need ya to bring the kid over to Ronny’s.” his voice cracks through the audio.
Hunter shares a glance with Omega amusingly. “Good timing, Batcher’s just about ready to eat us both. We’re on our way.” He returns his commlink back to his belt. “Come on girls, I think both of you will feel better after you eat something.”
“Yes, sir.” Omega playfully salutes him. He chuckles, leading her out of the ship with his hand on her shoulder, Batcher running ahead of them, barking for them to follow.
**
Light rain starts to drizzle down as they approach the local hot spot. Omega pauses, holding out her hand to catch the drops, taking in a deep inhale of air.
Hunter watches her curiously, a feeling of deja vu washing over him. He’ll never forget the look of pure wonder on her face the first time they took her off Kamino. The first time she felt the warmth of the sun on her skin, the first time she saw dirt… After all this time she still takes in the little things most people would ignore. Getting to see her experience so much for the first time was something he never took for granted. She opened his eyes to see the galaxy as she does, in those precious rare moments.
“I’ve always liked the smell of rain.” She says, tilting her face back to the sky. Droplets collecting on her skin.
“It always reminded me of Kamino.” he admits, following her example and taking a moment to observe the nature of this world. “But this rain smells different.”
Omega snorts. “How can the rain smell different?” She’s always asking what the differences he picked up were like for him. He taught her the basics of tracking that would apply to hunting, but there is still more about his abilities that she’s always been curious about.
“Kamino was a colder ocean, it didn’t have as much salt in the air, it was stale. But here it’s warmer, more tropical, the air is thicker because of the plants.” He breaths in judging the best way to describe it to her. “The rain smells more alive, sweeter and much saltier.”
“I never thought about it that way.” Omega smiles, running up a few steps to meet him. The rain starts to come down faster, Batcher whines with the changes in the weather.
“Com’on, let's get inside.” Hunter leads them to where they are to meet Wrecker. Down the winding stone paths of the lower Pabu neighborhoods.
By the time they reach Ronny’s the sky opened into a full on downpour, they got under the cover just in time before getting completely drenched. Batcher runs into the center of the restaurant shaking the water out of her coat, splashing those nearby.
“Sorry!” Omega apologies on behalf of the hound. Racing after her to get her to stop making a mess. Omega’s own hair and clothes drip from the afternoon storm.
“There you are!” Wrecker comes over to greet them. Lifting Omega up over his head. “Look at what the hound dragged in!” He laughs, spinning her around once before setting her back down.
Omega’s smile is contagious, her mood already lifting from earlier. “Wrecker!” She laughs as he sets her down.
“Cover your eyes, I have a surprise for you.” He kneels in front of her, winking with his good eye. Omega does as she’s told and covers her eyes with her hands. “No pesking!” Wrecker adds before scooping her over his shoulder and carrying her to the bar. She falls into a fit of giggles dangling over his shoulder.
It’s been a long time since Hunter’s heard Omega laugh like that. He follows them to the bar where Wrecker sits her on one of the stools.
“Can I open my eyes yet?” She asks grinning, peeking through her fingers.
“Not yet!” Wrecker makes his way behind the bar, “and no peeking!”
She squeezes her fingers closed again, snickering to herself. Wrecker disappears into the kitchen for a moment before returning with a large wooden bowl. He sets it down in front of her, sharing a nod with Hunter.
“Okay, kid. Open em.” Wrecker tells her.
Omega gasps at the surprise in front of her. “You found Mantel Mix!?” Her eyes wide with excitement, already grabbing a handful of the red and purple popcorn.
“I made Mantel Mix!” Wrecker corrects her, “with some help from Ronny of course.” He pops a few pieces of the popcorn into his mouth. “We can’t break tradition.” He smiles softly at her. They’ve hadn’t shared their tradition of getting Mantel Mix in a long, long time.
Omega pushes herself out of her seat and runs around the bar to meet him. Jumping up into his arms to hug him around his neck. Wrecker is more than happy to return the hug, hoisting her up in one arm.
“Thank you, Wrecker, it’s perfect!”
“Ah it was nothing.” He hugs her a little tighter before letting her go. He’s been having a harder time letting her go. She’s not as little as she was, he doesn’t have to carry her as much as he used to, but he still does anyways. He just feels better knowing she’s closer. “Now we can make it anytime.” He gently tosses her damp blonde curls.
“You still need to eat more than just the Mantel Mix.” Hunter adds, taking a piece from the bowl for himself. Personally he finds the snack overly sweet and too many combos of fruity syrups and chili spice. Out of all the times they’d get it he’s only ever had a few pieces.
“We will!” Omega promises, hopping back up on her bar stool.
“Oh and there’s one more thing!” Wrecker pulls out a small box from underneath the bar. “It took some time to track down.” He slides it over to her, “ we finally got our hands on a new deck of Balaans!”
“No way!” Omega opens the new deck of cards, expertly shuffling them. They used to play it all the time back at Cid’s parlor, but they never acquired their own deck. “How’d you find it?” She asks.
“Well we did cross the Galaxy five times looking for you, we had to land a few times.” He glances at Hunter. They held onto those cards for a long time. Waiting for the right time to give them to her. She hasn't even been back two full weeks yet, with so much going on they hardly had any down time.
“I think it’s high time we had game night!” Wrecker declares.
“We gotta comm Crosshair.” Omega says between chewing more of the candy mix.
“Oh, already taken care of.” Wrecker chuckles looking out at the pouring rain outside the windows.
No sooner than he said that, Crosshair can be seen stalking up to the entrance. Dripping wet, with a scowl that would steer most people away. His eyes narrowed in on them. Wrecker and Omega try and fail not to laugh as he walks up to them, leaving trails of water in his wake. Batcher waits for him with eagerness, her tail wagging so fast it hits against the stool legs.
“You said it was urgent.” He sneers at Wrecker, unamused.
“It is!” Omega turns in her stool to face him holding the bowl out to him. “You’ve never had Mantel Mix!”
“What?” He just looks at the food with disgust. “Are you joking? That’s the reason you called me here in the middle of a kriffing storm?”
“Yup pretty much!” Wreck laughs, throwing him a dish towel to dry off with.
“That, and it’s game night.” Hunter helps himself to the cooler of beer behind the bar, offering one to Crosshair.
Crosshair looks between his brothers waiting for the actual urgent news. He finally deflates landing on Omega’s expectant bright eyes.
“What are we playing?” He sighs, running the towel over his face.
“Balaans!” Omega gathers the cards, hoping off the tall bar stool to find a table for them to play at.
“Of course.” He rolls his eyes. “I can’t believe you raised her to be a hustler.” Crosshair scoffs at Hunter.
“That was all her.” Hunter shrugs, “it certainly wasn’t my idea.”
“Yeah but I’ve gotten us a lot of credits this way before and paid off our debt to Cid just by playing Dejarik.” She reminds him smugly.
“Who?” Crosshair looks to Hunter, judgmentally.
“Someone we cut ties with for good.” Hunter feels his jaw clenching at the mention of the name.
Wrecker changes the subject, “Omega is just gifted, and way better at cards than any of us.” He holds his hand down low for her to high five. “She’s the real brains of this operation.”
“True.” She grins high-fiving his much larger hand.
An hour later and the four of them were still seated around the card table. Hunter did make sure they ordered food, and that Omega had at least one real vegetable after a very long debate of the nutrients of Mantel Mix that his brothers were no help in.
They are starting their fourth game now. Omega won the first two, himself the last round.
“You got lucky.” Crosshair huffs tossing his cards into the pile to be shuffled again.
“I almost forgot what a sore loser you are.” Hunter smirks, shuffling the deck and handing it back to Omega to deal out.
Crosshair pulls out a new toothpick, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “I’m not a sore loser.” He mutters.
“Yes you are, little brother.” Omega teases, setting his new cards in front of him. Earning a chuckle from Hunter and Wrecker. Crosshair tries to look annoyed but he can’t when she calls him that. He folds and huffs a small laugh at the nickname she’s taken to for him.
“Before we get started, how about one more round?” Wrecker holds his empty glass bottle up for emphasis. He stands to clear their finished dishes, Omega getting up to help him.
“Can I have one?” She asks, knowing their answer will still be no. Hunter hasn’t let her even try a drop of alcohol, and he won’t, not until she’s at least in her much later teens. That’s the rule and she knows it, but she’ll still ask just to mess with him.
“You get juice and that’s it.” Hunter says sternly, but stays playful with her.
“C’mon, kid. I’m sure we can even find a little umbrella to put in it!” Wrecker leads her to the kitchen to help the staff out. Seeing Ronny was insistent on it always being “on the house” for them, the least they can do is the dishes.
A moment passes, Hunter finishes his second drink. He can feel Crosshair’s eyes on him.
“What is it, Cross?” He sets his glass down.
“What are we still doing here?” Crosshair keeps his voice low, to be sure Omega wouldn’t overhear.
“Balaans.” Hunter answers dryly, knowing what he was getting at.
“You know what I mean. What are we still doing on Pabu? Our position has been compromised, we should go.” He points his toothpick to emphasize his words.
Hunter releases a heavy sigh. “I talked it over with Omega.”
“And?” Crosshair presses.
“I want her to feel like she has a say in the matter. She knows what’s at stake.” Hunter looks around them. “I can’t just order her away from all we built.” This was their community now, their home. Her chance of a real childhood, he didn’t want to take that from her. Even if it was for her safety.
“She’s still a child, Hunter.” Crosshair leans forward with his arms on the table. “You’re going to have to make the call. Not her. You have to be the parent.”
“I’ve been making those calls a lot longer than you’ve been around.” Hunter scowls at his brother across the table. He knows Crosshair is right, but he gave Omega his word. “We’ve lived under the radar for a long time. It’s not fair to Omega to take her from the one place where she actually has a chance of a normal childhood.”
“She’s not going to have a normal childhood, Hunter. The Empire has already taken that from her, you just don’t want to admit it.” Crosshair wasn’t trying to fight with him, he was just being honest. Brutally so.
“Say we leave tomorrow, go to another remote, back water world, that doesn’t take the target off her back. It doesn’t matter where we go.” Hunter pitches his voice lower, paying attention to the kitchen doors in case she and Wrecker came out. “What difference does it make? It’s not like we are handing her over. I trust Omega will make the right choice.”
Crosshair narrows his eyes. “You trust her to make the choice you’re too afraid to make? Be reasonable, Hunter. She won’t choose to leave, because she’s comfortable here, all of you are! That’s why it’s time to go!” He hits his fist on the table in frustration.
Thunder rumbles through the sky, the dark clouds making it feel much later in the day than it actually is. Batcher whines, backing in under the table. Hunter feels the storm shifting too, it’s only going to get worse.
“I know…” Hunter sighs. Omega and Wrecker are making their way back over to their table. “We will discuss this more later. Right now Omega needs some sense of stability.” Hunter looks at him pleading for him to table the conversation.
“Fine. But I don’t like it.” Crosshair leans back in his chair, folding his arms.
“You don’t like anything.” Hunter shakes his head, needing that drink from Wrecker.
“That’s not true, anymore.” Crosshair mutters under his breath. If Hunter didn’t have enhanced hearing he wouldn’t have picked it up.
“Ready to lose again, Crosshair!” Omega smiles goodnaturedly returning to her spot at the table next to Hunter.
“Are you?” Crosshair replies, but he says it looking directly at his brother.
Hunter knows they’ve been warned, with their luck they won’t get any more warnings. It’s time to act. Tomorrow they will discuss their next move seriously, but at least for the moment they can give Omega one more game night…